May 6 2 British military tanks and
a Land Rover were set on fire by angry
Iraqis yesterday as troops came to recover
the crew of a British helicopter that
crashed in the southern city of Basra

May 7 More than 100,000 people
have fled their homes in Iraq since late
February because of the rising bloodshed, up
from 65,000 just over 2 weeks ago, Iraqi
officials said. These are only the refugees
who have registered with the Displacement
and Migration Ministry for financial
support, food and supplies.

May 8
One in 3 Iraqi children is
malnourished and underweight, according to a
report released by the United Nations
Children`s Fund. The report showed worsening
conditions since the April 2003 US-led
invasion of the country.

May 9 A new study says Afghanistan
and Iraq are among the countries with the
highest death rates for newborns in the
world. The study by the U.S.-based
independent charity Save the Children says
the African nation of Liberia has the
world`s highest newborn mortality rate, with
65 out of 1,000 babies dying. The report
says Liberia is followed by Afghanistan,
where 60 out of every 1,000 babies die.
Behind them come Iraq and Sierra Leone, with
59 of 1,000 newborns dying.

May 10
At least 1,091 people were killed in Baghdad
alone last month in ongoing sectarian
violence, President Jalal Talabani said in a
statement.

May 11
A reporter who worked for a pro-Sunni Iraqi
television station was gunned down in
Baghdad...Saud Muzahim al-Hadithi was found
dead - shot repeatedly in the head - in
Baghdad`s notorious Dora neighborhood last
week, said Iraqi army Capt. Ali Yaeen.

May 12
3 US fuel transport tankers were set on fire
in an attack by militants in Baghdad.

Shirin
Ebadi,
winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her
work for democracy and human rights in Iran
and elsewhere, spoke recently at the Islamic
Center of America.

`Do
not listen or believe the mistaken theory of
past civilizations. This only justifies war.
And no one wins in war.

Look at what happened in the Middle East.
Unfortunately, in the Middle East, what
happened to Iraq demonstrates that over
100,000 civilians were killed. Iraq was
destroyed. Also, American youth get killed
in that war. The only beneficiaries of the
war are people who sell arms.

As a Muslim Iranian, I state here that I
do criticize the government of Iran. But
this does not mean that America has the
right to invade Iran. And if America has not
learned its lesson from Iraq and thinks of
invading Iran, notwithstanding all of the
criticisms we have of our government, we
will defend our country to the last drop of
our blood. And we will not let an alien
soldier set foot on the land of Iran.`

*This
estimate is only of English language
media reported deaths. A peer reviewed
epidemiological survey (Roberts
et al., The Lancet, Vol 364 Issue 9448 pp
1857 1864) estimated that in the
18 months following the invasion 100, 000
excess deaths or more have occurred.
Violence accounted for most of the excess
deaths and air strikes from coalition forces
accounted for most violent deaths.
Criticisms of IBC methodology can be found
at
medialens